Adapted from the manga Bokura no Shokutaku by Mita Ori, Japan’s newest BL Our Dining Table is a comforting watch that heals the heart.

Starring Inukai Atsuhiro (Hazumi Yutaka), Iijima Hiroki (Ueda Minoru), and Maeyama Kuuga (Ueda Tane), Our Dining Table tells the story of a salaryman with food trauma who finds himself overcoming it when he meets two brothers who enjoy his cooking.

There isn’t anything grand about Our Dining Table, but this is why it shines. There’s beauty in simplicity, and this series offers healing and comfort in small gestures and comforting words.

And it does it at a pace that makes sense for the episodes.

There are no long, drawn-out pauses and no unnecessary filler scenes. Even Yutaka’s traumatic flashbacks are to the point, offering viewers a peek into why he has trouble eating in front of people and why he’s socially awkward without feeling overdone. This makes the flashbacks more impactful.

The downtrodden Yutaka and the responsible Minoru are each weighed down by life differently. Yutaka struggles with feeling deserving, while Minoru wants to do the best he can for his family while also being burdened by the need to try too hard. The way Minoru’s younger brother, Tane, brings these two men together, is such an endearing dynamic.

While sitting around a table eating together, they feel complete in a way they don’t when apart.

The head pats, touching looks, cheerful Tane, and food sharing offer simple moments of gratitude, understanding, and comfort that manage to reach through the screen and pat the viewers on the head in the same comforting way.

Our Dining Table is the type of drama you watch when your heart and mind feel burdened.

For a drama that feeds the soul as well as it feeds its characters, check out Our Dining Table on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 4 out of 5